LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The reaction to hearing the first bell sounded more like someone had just scored a touchdown for one of the area’s high school teams.
Teachers, students and staff members were that excited to begin the new school year. The superintendent was too!
“This is a magical day. We’re excited to have all of our kids back,” said Dr. Demetrus Liggins, who begins his third year leading Fayette County Public Schools.
Dr. Liggins said he’s never been more excited about the beginning of a new school year.
It showed while he was high-fiving kids as they got off the bus at Lexington’s Northern Elementary School on Wednesday morning. Before greeting those young people, with Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton at his side, Dr. Liggins spoke about his primary goal for the coming year.
“To be better than they are today as far as academically, as far as socially and as far as all of the other components that come with a school year,” Dr. Liggins said.
Brenda Cowan Elementary School Principal Josh Williams also touched on what he’s most hoping to see this school year.
“I look at connections,” he said. “That every student that walks through this door, between now and then (the last day of school in May), has a personal connection with an adult they can go to, that they feel safe, and know them beyond the surface level,” he continued.
Mayor Gorton spoke of how the school day and year can set a tone in all of Lexington’s neighborhoods.
“It’s all one big partnership. We all have the same families that we’re working with, so I, too, am excited,” she stated.
Over at Fredrick Douglass High School, some seniors were celebrating their final first day of school at FCPS.
Carley Craig reflected on how different Wednesday's first day was compared to the first day of their freshman year.
"We were online until I think March of my freshman year," Craig said. "It's bittersweet. You know, I've been at Douglass all four years and I've loved it.
Senior Andrew Snow also added he was excited to begin a new year, calling the first day "one of the best."
"I'm going to make the best of the experiences I'm gonna have this year that some people might take for granted," Snow said of his final months at Douglass.
Dr. Liggins said he’s never, in 24 years of being an educator, felt a better vibe in August than he is this year and he credited their preparation for that. Perhaps it’s because he took over this district while we were still in the midst of a pandemic. He no longer has to lead from a distance.
“I’m just anticipating great things,” he said of the now-underway school year.
